


What a Catch!

by yumetourou



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Badminton!AU, Fluff, M/M, Winkdeep, drama queen daehwi, nerdy?jinyoung, side chamhwi, sporty!jihoon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-18 03:15:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14844608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yumetourou/pseuds/yumetourou
Summary: Jinyoung doesn’t believe in high school romance, until he meets Park Jihoon.





	What a Catch!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [junhoism](https://archiveofourown.org/users/junhoism/gifts).



> for the prompt “Badminton Team!au where in between catching the shuttlecocks that Jihoon can't reach, Jinyoung learns to catch Jihoon when he falls too.”
> 
> I hope this meets your expectations!

The badminton club was Jinyoung’s last possible choice for a club. Yet here he was, at the new member greeting for that club exactly. Why was he here? It’s a long story. It all began a week ago when he started his first day as a second year high schooler.

-

He walked into school late, already breaking his resolution for that year. He ran into the school, trying to buy himself as much time as possible by sprinting as fast as he could. Despite his efforts, he was still 20 minutes late. He ran straight to the auditorium, hoping to catch the last bit of the welcome assembly. When he got to the auditorium, he was met with an unexpected sight. Instead of students standing in rows while the superintendent and principal gave speeches, the students milled around and looked at varying displays set up on the floor. It looked like a middle school science fair, with tri-boards and interactive displays. He remembered his own middle school science fair, and the disastrous volcano that resulted from it. He spent an hour after school cleaning up the mess he had made. A sharp jab in the side snapped him out of his reverie. He turned to see his best friend, Lee Daehwi, scowling at him.

”Bae Jinyoung, you absolute moron. Are you telling me you overslept? Again? On the first day of school? Let's get this over with already, I bet all the good clubs are taken already.” Daehwi dragged him to the nearest table, which happened to be the physics club. Thankfully all the spots were taken. Jinyoung may not have known what was going on, but he did not want to join the physics club. Refraction of light would be his downfall. When Daehwi seemed calm, he leaned against a wall and stared daggers at nothing in particular. Maybe he wasn't calm, and he just got tired of stomping around like a child.

”Daehwi,” Jinyoung began, ”care to explain what’s going on?” Daehwi sighed.

”It’s required for all students second year and above to join at least one club. If we don't join, we don't graduate. Dumb right? Except I had a club I wanted to join and _someone_ decided to show up 20 minutes late and now all the spots are taken. WAIT.” Daewhi cut off his own rant. ”THE DRAMA CLUB HAS ONE SPOT LEFT BYE JINYOUNG YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN.” With that, Daehwi ran off into the midst of displays. Jinyoung watched him and immediately knew why. Park Woojin, a third year that Daehwi had had a crush on since last year, was a part of the drama club. Jinyoung didn't understand the appeal of high school romance, but Daehwi seemed happy when he saw Woojin so Jinyoung didn't question it too much. He sighed and scanned the displays, hoping to see an opening somewhere. He didn't want to join a club, but the desire to graduate trumped the desire to avoid his classmates and other students. He finally found an opening, possibly the last one available. Once he saw the club name, he continued scanning. No way in hell was he joining the badminton club. He failed to locate any other openings, and his eyes yet again fell on the cursed free spot. Badminton club it was, his graduation was on the line. He walked over and could already tell that he would despise this club. The two representatives were the team captain, Yoon Jisung, and a bubbly third year that Jinyoung would rather avoid. Park Jihoon was his name, Jinyoung had seen him around the school a few times previously. The two seemed to be polar opposites, Jihoon played sports and was outgoing and Jinyoung could usually be found catching up on missed notes by himself in the library. Not a good mix, so the two didn't interact. Jinyoung dreaded joining a club with Jihoon. He mustered his courage and walked up to the table. Jisung cheerfully greeted him and asked for his name.

”Bae Jinyoung, and I’m interested in joining.”

-

So we resume Jinyoung’s current situation, the badminton club greeting. All the new members (there were only seven) stood in a circle with Jisung in the middle. It was like a cult ritual. The current members stood off to the side. Jisung introduced himself. He was a senior, set to graduate at the end of the year, and he had been playing badminton since he was young. The other club members then introduced themselves and stated their experience in the sport. All were either third or fourth year students, and all had considerable experience in the game. All except for Jihoon, that is. He sheepishly scratched the back of his head before introducing himself.

”Hi everyone, I’m third year Park Jihoon,” he winked, ”and I uh- I don't actually have that much experience like the other guys do. I’ve only been playing since I was a first year and Jisung let me join this club. I promise I’m good though! Please don’t underestimate me!” He bowed and walked out of the circle. He was the last of the ”senior members” to introduce himself, so then commenced the new member greetings. Like the older players (minus Jihoon), all six of the other new recruits had many years’ worth of experience, while Jinyoung still got badminton and tennis mixed up. When it came time for his introduction, he decided that honestly was the best policy.

“Hello everyone, my name is Bae Jinyoung and I’ve honestly never played badminton a day in my life. I only joined because I overslept and this was the last club available.” He bowed at the end and was met with the laughter of the senior players.

“Well, I guess we do need a towel boy.” Jisung said through his laughter. And thus began Jinyoung’s career as a towel boy.

His duties as a towel boy were quite dry, in a figurative sense. In a literal sense, they consisted of very sweaty towels and a lot of water. Jinyoung started carrying around hand sanitizer. His duties also consisted of re-stringing rackets if needed (a tedious and boring task) and picking up the shuttlecocks that players missed and collecting them in a bucket. He found that his catching skills improved greatly. Despite Jihoon’s promise at the new member meeting, he was by far the worst of the senior players. 90% of the missed shuttlecocks were his doing. He also wore painfully bright practice clothes. Daehwi always made sure to meet with Jinyoung after the club’s weekly after-school meetings, as the drama club held their meetings on the same day. They always caught each other up on their days, or in Daehwi’s case, his love life. Apparently, he was growing closer with Woojin each time the club met, much to Daehwi’s delite.

”Anyways,” he said after finishing his reminiscing for that day, ”how're things going in the badminton club?” Jinyoung sighed. What did Daehwi want him to say? Nothing interesting ever happened.

”Same as always. You know nothing ever happens, right? I don't even play. I’m just a towel boy.”

”I didn't mean it in that way.”

”Then what way did you mean it in?”

”Bae Jinyoung, you really are thickheaded. You know that, right? I meant, are you making any friends?” Daehwi smirked and nudged Jinyoung. ”Are you falling in loooooove?” Jinyoung gave him his best ”are you kidding me?” look. Daehwi frowned at him.

”So what you're telling me is, in a club FULL of a bunch of third and fourth years, there isn't ONE cute boy?” Jinyoung nodded. ”Oh come ON Jinyoung, can you at least try to make friends? And puh-LEASE, until I see it I refuse to believe that there is not one attractive person in that club.” Daehwi poked Jinyoung in the chest and made a show of dramatically stomping off to his mother’s red station wagon.

Weekend practices were something completely different. All the members had to be on the field by seven in the morning, including Jinyoung. He understood going to the after-school meetings, but not the weekend morning ones. He didn't even do anything besides catch shuttlecocks and laugh at Jihoon’s miserable failures. One of these mornings he got bored and decided to play a game of his own. Whenever Jihoon missed a shuttlecock, Jinyoung would catch it and throw it back in an attempt to hit him in the back of his head. One time he got one stuck in Jihoon’s mess of brown hair, but he usually missed. Jihoon didn't notice the shuttlecock in his hair until he turned around and Jisung laughed until he cried. The one time that Jinyoung did succeed, he felt a great amount of joy. Jihoon turned around and glared at Jinyoung, while Jinyoung could only laugh. Jisung too found Jinyoung’s game entertaining, hiding his laughter every time Jinyoung landed a hit and Jihoon shot him a death glare. Eventually, Jihoon got really annoyed and Jisung told Jinyoung to stop. So, Jinyoung resumed simply catching the shuttlecocks and collecting them in a bucket. Jinyoung noticed that Jihoon’s awful, bright shoelaces were untied. A tripping hazard, but the thought slipped Jinyoung’s mind and he forgot to mention it to Jihoon. The scrimmage continued on for another five minutes before Jihoon made a fatal move and lost, dejectedly walking off the court. His shoelaces were still untied, and he failed to notice this hazard. In his huff, he stepped on them and fell forward. Jinyoung’s towel boy instincts kicked in, and he moved to catch Jihoon. He succeeded, and the older boy fell right into Jinyoung’s arms. They were met with a chorus of ”ooooh's” from the other players. Jinyoung glared at them to stop their childish display. He led Jihoon to the bench and sat him down. Jinyoung sat beside him.

”You know, it's baffling that you didn't notice your shoelaces were untied considering they're so bright.”

”And it’s baffling that you didn't think to tell me about them.” Jihoon looked over at Jinyoung. ”HEY! You’re the one who kept throwing shuttlecocks at me! You messed up my playing!”

”Hyung, I don’t think that's the only reason your playing was messed up.” Jihoon hit him on the shoulder.

”SHUT UP!”

Jinyoung met Daehwi after practice again that Wednesday. After Daehwi finished his weekly rant about Park Woojin, Jinyoung piped up.

”Hwi, remember when you said you didn't believe that there are no cute boys in the badminton club? Well, you were right to be skeptical.” Daehwi’s eyes grew wide.

”So you're telling me, that THE Bae Jinyoung has a crush on someone??”

”Whoa, whoa, slow down. It's not a crush, I just think he’s cute.”

”Who is he? Who is this boy that stole my best friend’s heart?”

”He’s a third year and his name is Park Jihoon. And it's not a crush Hwi. Shut up, why don’t you?”

One week passed.

”Okay, I take it back. It’s a crush.”

-

Badminton club suddenly didn't seem so bad. Jinyoung didn't mind touching sweaty towels or waking up at six in the morning on Saturdays if it meant that he got to see Jihoon. During lunch periods he strained his neck to catch a glimpse of Jihoon laughing across the cafeteria, just so he could see the other’s smile. Daehwi found these displays funny, and took great enjoyment in making fun of Jinyoung.

“I’d say he’s whipped. Hellooo!! Earth to Bae Jinyoung!!” Jinyoung looked away from Jihoon to glare at Daehwi.

”Shut up.”

“Wow, you’re not even denying it. What happened to the Bae Jinyoung that didn’t believe in high school romance?”

“Park Jihoon happened to him.” Woojin contributed. The older had taken to eating lunch with Daehwi and Jinyoung. “You know Jinyoung, he’s not all that hard to talk to. You just suck. He won’t be embarrassed if you talk to him, he’s friends with some of the first years. Go talk to him.”

”Thanks for the advice Hyung, but I’d still be embarrassed if I talked to him in public like this.” Daehwi put on a fake pout. Jinyoung gave him a confused look.

“What the hell are you doing?”

”I just want my best friend to fall in loooooove.” He pouted even more and Woojin laughed at the display.

”Daehwi, if you keep doing that I’ll have to kiss you.” Woojin threw his arms around Daehwi and Daehwi laughed. Jinyoung stared at them with a mildly disgusted look on his face.

”Gross. You two are gross.”

”Aww, you're just jealous that Jihoon won’t do this with you.” Daehwi jabbed. Jinyoung glared at him again. ”At least get his numberrrr.”

”For five dollars.”

”Ten if you do it right now.” Jinyoung saw it as his opportunity to get away from Daehwi and Woojin’s PDA.

”It’s a deal.” He got up from the table and walked toward Jihoon. He could hear Daehwi cheering from behind him. He tapped Jihoon on the shoulder and the older boy turned to face him.

”Oh, hey Jinyoung. What’s up?”

”Jihoon Hyung, I was wondering if I could-” Jinyoung swallowed before he choked, ”if I could get your number.”

”Oh, uh, sure. Let me just-” Jihoon ripped off a piece of a napkin and scribbled something on it, handing it to Jinyoung. ”Here you go, Jinyoungie. Text me whenever.” Jinyoung smiled and thanked him before walking back to his own table. He slammed the piece of the napkin on the table, Jihoon’s messy writing clear for Daehwi to see. Daehwi reluctantly handed him a ten dollar bill while Woojin giggled. Today was a win for Jinyoung. Since he was feeling bold, he texted Jihoon after school.

JY: Hi Hyung, it's Jinyoung.  
JH: Oh hi Jinyoungie!! What did you need?  
JY: I was actually wondering if you wanted to go on date with me? I mean as friends and all I want to get to know you better  
JH: Oh sure! When?  
JY: Tomorrow after school? There’s a nice cafe on the way to my house.  
JH: Sounds good! I’ll meet you at the front doors after school tomorrow! See you then!  
JH: p.s., even if you hadn't said ”as friends” I would have agreed ;)

Jinyoung waited at the front doors the next afternoon. He spotted Jihoon’s figure jogging through the hallway to meet him and suppressed the urge to grin like he just won the lottery (even though it felt like it to him). The older boy bounced up to Jinyoung, a bright grin on his face.

”Hi, Jinyoungie! Where are you taking me?”

”It’s a surprise.” Jihoon pouted at him. ”Hyung, if you keep doing that I’ll have to kiss you.” He mentally cursed himself for quoting Woojin. He stopped mentally cursing himself when Jihoon (cutely) blushed. Jinyoung linked their arms and led Jihoon towards the cafe. ”Come on Hyung, I’ll walk you there.”

The pair arrived at the sweet shop, arm in arm. Jinyoung didn't particularly like sweets, but he knew Jihoon did and he wanted to leave a good impression (and see Jihoon smile again). Jihoon stared in awe at the many cakes, before eventually settling on a pink strawberry mousse. Jinyoung got a simple chocolate brownie, to which Jihoon playfully called him boring. While waiting for their order, the two sat across from each other in booths by the window.

”Jinyoungie, is it true that you've never played badminton once in your life?”

”It’s true.”

”So you didn't make up your story about being late on club day?”

”I did not.”

“Well then, I’m glad you were late that day. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten to meet you.” Jinyoung didn't hold back his grin that time. Eventually, their order was called. Hand in hand, they went up to the counter to get their sweets. The shop attendant handed them over with a smile.

”For the two lovebirds, a strawberry mousse and a plain chocolate brownie.” Both Jinyoung and Jihoon blushed at being called ”lovebirds.” They took their time eating and getting to know each other.

”Hyung, why do you wear such bright clothes to practice? They look horrible.”

”You’re just too plain then, Jinyoungie. The brighter the clothes, the brighter the day.”

”You’re making that up. There is no way that clothes can effect your day.”

”I’m not!! Try it sometime!” Jinyoung laughed in the moment but found himself gravitating towards brighter outfits in the future. At one point, Jihoon ended up with mousse on his lips and Jinyoung reached over to wipe it off, causing them both to burst into laughter. They spent hours there, and before they knew it it was evening already. Jinyoung looked out into the dark streets.

“Hyung, it isn’t safe to be alone at night. Can I walk you home?”

“Of course you can, Jinyoungie.” Jinyoung smiled at Jihoon and grabbed his hand.

After paying for their order, Jinyoung led Jihoon into the streets. A cool breeze chilled them both, the thin fabric of their uniforms doing little to protect them. Jihoon huddled closer to Jinyoung for warmth as they walked. The night was quiet, neither of the two boys wanting to ruin the peacefulness by talking. They walked in silence, Jihoon looking at the stars and Jinyoung looking at Jihoon. He badly wanted to kiss the older on the cheek but held back in fear of scaring him off. Streetlights lined the sidewalks and lit their way, the warm glow making them feel safe. Under the umbrella of yellow light from one, Jihoon stopped walking and looked up at Jinyoung, catching him staring. Jinyoung grew flustered and quickly looked away, but Jihoon stopped him. Jinyoung looked back and was met with an unreadable look. Did Jihoon not have fun? Was he about to tell Jinyoung that the nicknames and light flirting were all a joke? Jihoon turned Jinyoung so that their chests were pressed together, without breaking his intense stare. Jinyoung could feel the other’s eyes moving all over his face. To tell the truth, Jinyoung was scared and a little weirded-out. Jihoon stood on his tiptoes and wrapped his arms loosely around Jinyoung’s neck. He closed his eyes and pressed his lips against Jinyoung’s, causing the younger boy to stiffen. Jihoon didn't pull away at Jinyoung’s reaction, and Jinyoung eventually softened and kissed him back. Jihoon pulled away and rested his head against Jinyoung’s chest, his eyes still closed.

”I really like you.” Jihoon’s whisper was barely audible in the breeze.

”I really like you too.” They continued on their way to Jihoon’s house, hand in hand and starry-eyed for each other. When they arrived, neither wanted to part. They sat on the front steps, watching the stars.

“Tonight was nice, Jinyoungie. We should do it again.”

“Do what again, go on a date or kiss?”

“Both.” They sat in silence for a few more minutes before Jihoon stood up. He turned to walk up the rest of the steps, but tripped over his own untied shoelaces and fell. Jinyoung’s instincts of a boy in love kicked in, and he caught Jihoon.

“Thanks for always catching me when I fall.” Jihoon said through giggles.

“Well I can’t help it. You’re such a catch, Hyung.”


End file.
